Caribbean & Central America - February 2026

PANAMA | Gov’t hails record exports. On 3 February Panama’s trade & industry ministry (Mici) released new figures showing that the country’s exports (excluding from duty-free zones) totalled a record US$980.1m in 2025, which it described as a “historic” level over the past 16 years, and up 1.6% on 2024. According to the same figures, frozen shrimp was the leading export, accounting for 13.3% of the total followed by crude palm oil (7.7%). Bananas, historically Panama’s main export, accounted for 7.5% as a result of industrial activity in the sector as part of a nationwide strike last year. As regards sectors, overall, fish and shellfish accounted for 22.2% of the total, followed by fruit (11.3%), fats and oils (10.7%), and iron and steel foundry (6.5%), among others. The US remains Panama’s main export market, accounting for 15.0% of sales, followed by Taiwan (12.8%) and the Netherlands (7.4%). According to the same Mici figures, exports from duty-free zones totalled US$312.5m last year, down 5.3% on 2024.

GUATEMALA | Rise in tourism. On 12 January Guatemala’s national tourism institute (Inguat) released new figures showing that total visitor numbers for December 2025 reached 370,164, up 16% on November, and 15% on the same month in 2024. This brings the total for the year to 3.36m, up from 3.04m in 2024. The same figures show that most (62%) of tourists came from Central America, followed by North America (26%), Europe (5%), and South America (3%).

Central America & Caribbean: inflation rate
Percentage variation (year-on-year)

Central America & Caribbean: GDP growth (%)
Quarterly figures are year-on-year growth